Unexpected
by bittersweetblonde
Summary: When Peyton starts experiencing pain, she doesn't tell anybody, especially her fiancee, but what will she do when it get's worse and more importantly what's causing it?


When Peyton starts experiencing pain, she doesn't tell anybody, especially her fiancee, but what will she do when it get's worse and more importantly what's causing it?

**Unexpected.**

Opening her eyes and seeing the time, Peyton sighed inwardly to herself, she'd beaten her alarm again. It wasn't like her to wake up before the annoying beeping sound alerted her to, but for the last few days it had become a regular occurance.

She looked to her left and saw her fiancee Lucas fast asleep, she felt a little smile spread across her face as she watched him, he looked so peaceful...something she wished she could feel at the moment.

Slowly creeping out of bed so not to disturb him, Peyton headed for the bathroom. She had an hour before her alarm would go and decided to have a shower. It was only once she'd gotten out and wrapped a towel around herself that she felt it again, a short stabbing pain near her abdomen. It had been coming and going for the last few days, at first she took no notice thinking it was fairly common, both Brooke and Haley had described in the past of random shooting pains in their bodies and Peyton hadn't been a stranger to them either, but this...this was different, this was starting to worry her.

She hadn't told anyone about them, she was scared she'd sound stupid, scared she'd have to visit the doctors, scared it might be something serious, scared of worrying Lucas and her friends, scared of it all!

Taking a deep breath, she walked back into the bedroom just in time for her alarm to start going off.

* * *

Hearing a shrill beep, Lucas grimaced before opening his eyes and letting out a yawn. As he stretched to shut off the alarm, he saw his soon to be wife wrapped in just a towel with her hair soaking wet. Usually she'd still be dead to the world and he'd have to give her a loving shove to wake her up, but the last few morning's he'd been greeted to this sudden change, not that he was complaining though. "Hmm that's a nice sight to see first thing in the morning." He huskily said as she reached to grab her hairdryer, one of her long sexy legs out fully stretched for him to admire.

He watched as she turned to face him and he could see her eyeing up the toned body of his that he had on display. "Oh yeah? Well I could say the same." She replied with a wink and he let out a laugh before slipping up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a soft kiss on her neck.

"I would ask you to join me in the shower, but it seems you've already had one...again." He whispered and she nodded against him.

"Yeah sorry, I beat the alarm and thought it'd be pointless going back to sleep for an hour." She told him.

He turned her to face him and studied her for a few seconds, nothing looked any different, but these early mornings were starting to play on his mind a little. "Are you ok?" He asked. "I mean it's not like you to wake up before me, let alone be showered before 8 am." He explained.

"Yeah I'm fine." She lied. "It's probably the season's changing? The sunlight comes through a lot earlier now." She added and although Lucas nodded, he couldn't help but get a flashback to their high school days and her 'dreams are emails for ghosts' speech. Back then she was hiding something and he got the feeling she was now.

* * *

It was when she was halfway through making breakfast that it hit her again, automatically she stopped what she was doing and as soon as the pain had come, it had gone again, but that didn't stop Lucas from noticing. She had her back to him as he was sat at the table with his morning paper, but he saw her suddenly stop, thankfully he didn't see her fists tighten or her teeth clench as the pain struck.

"Are you sure you're ok?" She found him asking as she placed the French toast on the table before sitting down.

"Yeah, why do you keep asking me that?" She asked.

"Well the fact you just suddenly stopped what you were doing." He replied and she grabbed some of the toast and nodded.

"I just remembered something important I've gotta do at work today. It totally slipped my mind." She answered, but the look he was giving her proved he wasn't convinced.

"Peyt you can talk to me you know, you can tell me anything." He said. "Is there something bothering you?" He asked and inwardly she panicked, she hated lying to him and what ever this pain was, it was now starting to become noticeable to him aswell as her.

"Luke, I love you for caring and I love you for that concerned look in your eyes, but I'm fine." She told him and then reached for his hand and squeezed it. "Really." She added trying to convince him that little bit more and was relieved to see him nod and let it go.

* * *

Finishing his breakfast, Lucas noticed Peyton hadn't touched much of her food or drink and she'd been quiet since she'd told him she was ok. As he looked at her face, she seemed miles away and also a little pale. As much as she kept telling him she was fine, he knew she wasn't.

"Something wrong with the food?" He questioned, knowing that he'd already used the 'are you ok' line too many times, but he was met by silence. "Peyt?" He said and her eyes suddenly met his, letting him know she was back in the room.

"Oh erm no, I'm just not that hungry." She replied and he knew it was yet another lie. She'd always had a big appetite.

Getting up from his seat and walking over to her, he kneeled down and placed his hand to her forehead.

"Right that's it, you're staying home today." He told her, feeling she was a little warm.

"What?" She asked.

"No work. I think you're coming down with something." He said and she pushed her chair back and scoffed as she stood up.

"Lucas I keep telling you I'm fine! If I was coming down with something I'd be puking or I'd be too sick to get out of bed! Stop all this!" She told him getting a little aggravated

"Well something's not right and given that you've lied to me every time I've asked you if you're ok, I've had to make my own assumptions." He said raising his voice a little.

"I haven't lied to you!" She snapped.

"You've just done it again!" He shouted.

"Oh you know what, I'm not having this arguement! Just get ready for work Luke and leave me alone!" She yelled.

Wanting to fire something back at her, he decided to just bite his tongue and walk away.

* * *

It was late afternoon and Peyton's morning at work had been as bad, if not worse than the time she'd spent with Lucas first thing! She hadn't meant to snap or get into a fight with him, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

She'd gone online once she'd arrived at work and had stupidly looked up her symptoms. She'd always had a fear of doctors and hospitals, more so since her Mom died and thought that by browsing around online, she'd put her mind at rest without having to see a doctor. Sadly for her though, it had only made things worse! She was now thinking she had all sorts, including cancer and being realistic, she knew that diagnoses was more likely than the others because of her genetic history.

Hearing Mia come in broke her from her thought's and she frowned as the dark haired singer placed the cd down on the desk. "I didn't listen to them, I write my own songs." She told her and Peyton let out a sigh.

She'd spoken to her about this earlier, Mia hadn't had the time to come up with any of her own material and meeting her halfway, Peyton handed her a cd of songs written by others for her to pick from, but it seemed Mia wasn't willing to do so.

"Mia, I am not in the best mood right now so this a bad time for you to make some naive little..."

"You think I'm naive?!" Mia cut in, causing Peyton to stay silent. "I am not the same girl who left on tour last year ok?" She said standing up for herself.

"God I hope that's not true beacuse I liked that girl, in fact I loved that girl." Peyton replied, already feeling bad for what she was saying and knowing where this was ultimatley going. She'd had round 1 with Lucas first thing and it seemed this was gonna be her round 2.

"Oh really? Then what happened to protecting her? What happened to telling the label to be patient?" Mia asked.

"Oh I have been doing that." Peyton told her. "I've been doing that for months now, but what happened to actually doing the work Mia?" She asked, her tone getting more accusing and louder. This wasn't where she wanted this to go, a conversation turning into an argument with regrettable things being said, but she just couldn't stop herself!

"I told you earlier that I had ideas, you either wait for me to turn them into records or you get nothing from me at all! I am not going to sing a song written by somebody else Peyton, I never have and I never will!" Mia told her and then went to walk away, but Peyton stopped her.

"Hey." She said and Mia turned around. "I'm not sure you should be on this label anymore?" Peyton told her and Mia just gave her a look and a shake of the head before walking out.

* * *

Lucas pulled up outside the house after a long day at work. As he got out of his Mustang, he noticed that Peyton's Comet wasn't around. He let out a sigh knowing she was obviously at work and then he let himself into the house. He tossed his keys on the table and headed for the kitchen to grab a drink and a stick something in the microwave. He hadn't heard off Peyton all day, which he wasn't surprised about, but he was still worried. His mind hadn't been in the gym or on the game or his team where it was supposed to be and it was left to Skills and Nathan to do his job for him. Nathan had pulled him to the side at one point and asked if he was ok, but Luke just brushed it off and said he was tired.

He'd thought about calling or even texting Peyton to apologise as the day had gone on, but then he realised he didn't have anything to say sorry about. She was the one acting weird, not him!

Settling down with his meal, he stuck Casablanca on and escaped reality for a few hours, somewhere into the film though, his day had caught up with him and he'd fallen asleep...

_"Were you serious when you told me you'd leave with me tonight?" He asked looking into her eyes._

_"Yes." She answered._

_"Skills, you've been a great man and a great friend, I want you to have this place, it's yours." He said._

_"I'm coming too." He told Lucas._

_"No, but just hold me up anyway." He said and then took Peyton's hand and walked out of the club._

_As soon as they got outside, two black cabs pulled up, cornering the pair of them in the middle of the road. Julian got out of one, ordering Peyton to go over to him and back to Dan's maffia gang._

_"She's with me." Lucas said, standing infront of her protectivly. _

_Julian just laughed and then pulled out a gun, but Lucas did the same and shot him before Julian had the chance to pull his own trigger._

_"Why does everything have to be so messy?" A voice then said as Julian fell to the floor. _

_Lucas turned around and saw Dan. He pointed the gun at him and Dan just turned around. "I wouldn't even I'd shoot a man in the back Lucas...well actually that's a lie, but I wouldn't recommened it cos I have a surprise for you." He added and called for Brooke to get out of the other black cab. As she emerged, Dan pointed a gun of his own at Lucas which prompted him to put his down. "Ok finish your job Miss Davis and your debt is clear." Dan told her and Brooke took the gun from him._

_"I'm sorry Luke." She said._

_"Brooke we've all had hard times, you don't have to do this." He told her._

_"I do, I should have done this a long time ago." She replied and then turned the gun to Dan and fired it, but nothing happened? She tried again, but still nothing happened?_

_"Good job I knew you'd try to pull a fast one!" Dan said and then hit her, causing Peyton to gasp as Brooke fell to the floor. "If you want something done right..." He added while getting another gun out of his pocket and aiming it at Lucas. _

_Just as he was about to fire it at him, Skills came out of nowhere and tackled Dan to the floor! A shot had gone off as Lucas made his own dive to retrieve the gun he'd put down earlier, but thankfully it missed him and nobody had been been hurt, or so it seemed..._

_"Luke." Peyton whispered and Lucas looked round at her and saw her clutching her stomach where blood was oozing from!_

_"Peyton." He said and then took her in his arms just as she fell to the floor. "I got you, I got you." He told her. "It's gonna be ok, just hold on, you're gonna be ok." He added as he heard how breathless she was getting and saw how pale she'd gone. "We're gonna leave rememeber, just you and me." He told her, feeling how cold she was getting in his arms._

_"I love you." She whispered and with that she was gone._

It wasn't until he heard his phone beep that he woke up. It took him a while to come round and at first he hadn't remembered any of his dream, that was until he saw the text that Peyton had just sent him.

_'Sorry about this morning. I love you. xxx' _

Those last 3 words triggered it all and he quickly called her back.

* * *

Sitting in her office, Peyton had realised that since her arguement with Mia that afternoon, she hadn't experiened much pain, if any at all really and she started wondering if it was all in her head? Maybe thinking about it was what brought it on? Deciding that enough was enough and remembering how horrible she'd been to people today, she knew she needed to fix it! She texted Mia first, apologising to her and told her to take as long as she needed with her music and then she texted her fiancee, saying sorry to him for how she'd been that morning and that she loved him. Shortly after she'd sent the one to Luke, her phone started ringing and she saw his name flash up on her screen.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey, listen don't apologise ok. I shouldn't have kept asking if you were alright this morning. If it was the other way round, it would have driven me nuts and I'd have probably snapped too." He told her.

"Ok...where's this come from?" She asked a little surprised. She was planning to come clean to him about it when she first picked up the phone, but now he'd thrown her!

"I just had the craziest dream." He answered, giving her no more details. "I'll tell you about it when you get home." He added.

"Ok, well I shouldn't be too long." She replied, now realising that she was back at square one in not telling him and he was still none the wiser about there being anything wrong at all!

"Ok I'll see you soon, oh and Peyton? Don't ever leave me ok?" He asked and as confused as she was by that last comment, she agreed and said bye to him before hanging up.

At that precise moment though the pain struck her again, only this time it was much stronger and had her collapsing to the floor! Clutching her stomach, she waited for it to pass, but it took minutes instead of seconds and she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. Reaching for her phone she dialled Luke's number.

* * *

Turning Casablanca off and trying to calm down after his dream, Lucas was surprised to see Peyton calling him after only hanging up a few minutes ago.

"Hey babe." He said, but was shocked to hear her shaky voice at the other end of the phone.

"Can you come to Tric?" She asked and the moment she'd said it, he had his shoes on and grabbed his jacket and car keys.

"What's happened? Are you ok?" He asked as we walked out of the front door, heading for his Mustang.

"I...I don't know? I will be when you're here." She said.

"Ok, I'm on my way." He told her before hanging up.

It didn't take him that long to get there and when he did, he found her on the floor leaning against her desk, looking pale, scared and worried.

"Baby, what's happened?" He asked rushing over to her and taking her hand in his. It was when he ran his free hand through her hair and against her cheek that he felt how warm she was, just like this morning.

"I...I've been getting this shooting pain in my abdomen the last couple days...just on and off and mild...only lasing about 10 seconds...but..."

"Wait, why didn't you tell me?" He cut in, realising that's why she'd been acting odd and waking up so early the last few days, it had been making her anxious.

"I don't know...I thought it was nothing at first...then when it kept coming back...I...I just got scared." She explained and he suddenly saw tears falling down her face.

Kissing her forehead, he then wiped them away and she carried on explaining. "It got worse just now though Luke, I thought it was going away, but it...it came back stronger and it lasted longer too?" She told him and he worked out in his own mind that it had caused her to collapse.

"Ok, you're not gonna like this, but I'm gonna need to take you to the hospital ok?" He said and she looked at him in total fright and broke down in tears shaking her head.

"No, please Luke, I can't go there! I thought...I thought I could before I called you, but I don't...don't think I can handle it?" She sobbed and he just pulled her into a tight hug.

"Listen, I know you're scared ok and I know how much you hate those places, but I'll be right by your side. We need to get you checked out babe." He told her and she pulled away and just looked at him before taking a deep breath.

"Ok." She answered in a small voice.

* * *

They'd been at the hospital for half an hour and hadn't been told much except that they'd like to run some tests on Peyton. A nice, friendly doctor had asked her lots of questions to do with her symptoms before that and he'd made her feel more at ease about being there.

While they were waiting for the results to come back, she looked at Lucas whose hand hadn't left her's since he arrived at Tric and she decided to ask him about his dream to take her mind off the waiting.

"So this crazy dream you had earlier, what happened?" She asked with a little smile on her face, but it soon disappeared as she felt Luke tense up.

"It's not that important now." He told her.

"It is to me, I could do with the distraction." She joked, but he just shook his head. "Oh come on, you were gonna tell me all about it when I got home." She tried, but she felt him tense up again. "Why do you keep doing that? Did something bad happen in this dream?" She asked and he sighed.

"It was the 40's." He started and Peyton smiled, glad that she'd gotten him to talk about it and distract her. "I owned a club, Skills was working there and me and you were going to run away together." He said to which Peyton nodded. "I think you were caught up in some maffia life with Dan and Julian?" He continued before she stopped him.

"Julian in the maffia?!" She asked and Lucas finally let out his first smile since he'd gotten the call from Peyton earlier.

"I know! Don't ask me where that came from!" He replied. "Anyway, me and you started making tracks, but we got cornered by Julian and then Dan. They had guns on them and Julian was ordering you to go back with them, but I got in his firing line and shot him before he could shoot me." He explained.

"My own little action hero!" Peyton said with a smile. "Did you shoot Dan too?" She found herself asking, getting quite into this dream of his!

"No randomly your best friend tried to!" He answered and Peyton raised her eyebrows.

"Brooke with a gun?! Ok and I thought Julian in the maffia was crazy enough!" She laughed.

"Well she tried to shoot Dan, but the gun wasn't loaded and knowing she was gonna trick him like that, Dan hit her and got his own loaded gun out and aimed it back at me." Lucas told her.

"So you shot him like you shot Julian?" She asked.

"Not exactly, I'd put my gun on the floor when Dan got his out and just as he was about to shoot me, Skills came out of the club and tackled Dan to the ground!" He said.

"Omg! So who got shot!?" She asked and Luke paused for a second and then shrugged.

"I don't know? I woke up after that hearing my phone go off when you sent that text." He replied and just as she was about to speak, a doctor came back into the room.

* * *

Lucas was thankful when the doctor came back, mainly because they'd finally know what was wrong with Peyton, but also incase he'd slipped up with his dream. He'd paused when she asked who got shot. How could he tell her that it was her who'd been fired at and went on to die in his arms when they were now in a hospital after she'd collapsed clutching her stomach in pain?!

"Miss Sawyer, Mr Scott." The doctor said as he looked at them and then at the results he had in his hand.

"Is she ok?" Lucas found himself asking and the doctor just smiled at his concern.

"She's more than ok." He informed him. "Congratulations are in order, you're going to be parents! You're pregnant Peyton." He told her and Lucas just felt relief wash over him as he hugged his overwhelmed fiancee.

"How far along am I?" Peyton asked as she wiped her tears away.

"I'd say a little over 8 weeks, we'll need to book you in for a scan before you leave and then we'll know for sure." He explained and the two of them just nodded.

"Ok...the pain I was getting though?" She suddenly questioned. "I mean pain isn't good in pregnancy right? Why have I been getting that?" She asked and now Lucas felt the worry creep back into his head. Why hadn't he even thought of that?

"Stress related Miss Sawyer. You didn't know you were pregnant and have been working and doing things without taking it easy. You'll find that the pain should stop once you've had a bit of rest. If it does continue though, then come back and we'll have a look to see what's going on, but all being well you should be fine." He explained and they both thanked him before booking a scan and heading home.

* * *

It was when they got in the car and were halfway home that Peyton looked over at Lucas. "It was me that got shot in your dream wasn't it?" She asked and he glanced over at her before looking back at the road.

"What?" He replied.

"I got shot and I'm guessing I died too. Why else would you have paused when I asked earlier or told me to never leave you on the phone?" She said.

"Peyton, we've just found out we're having a baby and you're talking about yourself getting shot and dying, not the time babe!" He said with a laugh.

"I thought I was dying too." She told him in a serious voice and he quickly looked across at her again before focusing back on the road.

"What?" He asked.

"I looked up my symptoms online at work today...one diagnoses said cancer and with what happened to Ellie, I thought..."

"Hey!" He said as he reached for her hand and then kissed her knuckles. "Don't even go there ok." He told her and she just smiled.

"I love you Lucas Scott." She said as she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek before cuddling into him.

"I love you too Peyton soon to be Scott." He replied with a smile, driving his future wife and child back to their house.


End file.
